


Bones (s5e20): Link Roundup and Review

by Elf (Elfwreck)



Category: Bones (TV)
Genre: Episode: s05e20 The Witch in the Wardrobe, Gen, Link Roundup, Meta, Nonfiction, Religion, Representation, Review, Wicca, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-08
Updated: 2010-05-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:20:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23151598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elfwreck/pseuds/Elf
Summary: "A Witch in the Wardrobe" is episode 20 of season 5 of Bones, aired this last Thursday, May 6. It deals with Wiccans. (And Booth/Brennan, and Angela/Hodgins. But I mostly care about the Wiccan stuff.) Warning for (mild) spoilers below, and more spoilers at the linked pages.
Collections: March Meta Matters Challenge





	Bones (s5e20): Link Roundup and Review

[](https://jenett.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**jenett**](https://jenett.dreamwidth.org/) [History geek detangling errors in the recent Bones episode](http://jenett.dreamwidth.org/1283049.html?format=light) (& ~~[crosspost at LJ](http://jenett.livejournal.com/1004039.html?format=light)~~ ): As I said, the history bits irked me a lot more than the Wiccan bits in this, though while I'm at it, I might as well detangle the errors in that.

[](http://the-wildhunt.livejournal.com/profile)[ **the_wildhunt**](http://the-wildhunt.livejournal.com/) feed: ~~[A Bit About Bones](http://syndicated.livejournal.com/the_wildhunt/669871.html)~~ ; [same at the Wild Hunt blog](https://web.archive.org/web/20100512024920/http://wildhunt.org/blog/2010/05/a-bit-about-bones.html): Well first off, it was nowhere near as bad as that really bad episode of The Mentalist, but it also wasn’t as good as that Simpsons episode.

[](http://seshen.livejournal.com/profile)[ **seshen**](http://seshen.livejournal.com/) : [Wicca on "Bones," or, I Missed "FlashForward" For This Piece of Crap?](http://seshen.livejournal.com/1215616.html?format=light): OK, overall they did an OK job in portraying Wicca. No real flaws that I could see, except for the one reference to an "ancient" Wiccan symbol. And I would have liked to see at least one man in the circle. But as a general rule, they acknowledged that there are good and bad witches, and did a credible job distinguishing each without blurring the line between. There was even a tastefully done skyclad scene with one actually funny line about it.

[](http://sheherazahde.livejournal.com/profile)[ **sheherazahde**](http://sheherazahde.livejournal.com/) at [](http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=_wicca_)[_wicca_](http://www.livejournal.com/users/_wicca_/): [ "Bones: The Witch in the Wardrobe" written by Kathy Reichs ](http://community.livejournal.com/_wicca_/235417.html): It was worse than I expected. I couldn't even begin to explain how many things were wrong with it. I really hoped for better from a forensic anthropologist. It looks like she did no research at all on Wicca or the Salem Witch trails.

Confessions of a Pagan in the Bible Belt: [Witchcraft in the Media](http://anonymouspagan.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/witchcraft-in-the-media/): I’d have to say that at least this particular episode of this show made the distinction between “bad” witches and “good” witches. Although the way the distinction made was rather trite and unimaginative, the distinction was nonetheless made, which is more than what most television shows would do.

[](http://teross50.livejournal.com/profile)[ **teross50**](http://teross50.livejournal.com/) : [As I wrote on face book…](http://teross50.livejournal.com/169266.html?format=light)Even though the show attempted to dispel a few myths about ritual and Wiccan practices. The overall end images were stereotypical and reinforced the negative images of Witchcraft and Wiccan Practice.  
_(I don't have a facebook account & can't see the complete message; only a snippet is available at LJ.)_

Those were Pagan reactions. So how did the rest of the fannish community react?

[](http://kita0610.livejournal.com/profile)[ **kita0610**](http://kita0610.livejournal.com/) : [Bones: Wicca vs. Booth](http://kita0610.livejournal.com/649732.html?format=light) ( _locked post_ ): The coven being guilty of murder was cheap, flawed, and so godamned typical of Hollywood that I can't even find the will to do more than roll my eyes and say, yeah, I saw that going in. Of course there can't be any good witches! Fuckers.

[](http://crumpled-up.livejournal.com/profile)[ **crumpled_up**](http://crumpled-up.livejournal.com/) : [bones and fringe! omfg](http://crumpled-up.livejournal.com/400732.html?format=light): KATHY REICHS ALSO WROTE THIS EP. EVEN THOUGH IT HAD WICCANS IT WAS ALL ABOUT ANGELA AND HODGINS.

[](http://starafar.livejournal.com/profile)[ **starafar**](http://starafar.livejournal.com/) : [ BONES. HOLY CRAP.](http://starafar.livejournal.com/244375.html?format=light)( _locked post_ ) The Salem Witch Trials - wasn't it just LSD? Well, just. Haha. OH, so the bones are actually old?

Seeleybaby @ Give Me My Remote: [BONES: The Witch in the Wardrobe](http://www.givememyremote.com/remote/2010/05/07/bones-the-witch-in-the-wardrobe/): Cheers to Kathy Reichs for writing an episode that utilized each character with great purpose! Likewise, the episode was case-driven, which always gives a good season one vibe to things.  
_(No mention at all of Wicca as a religion; no comment on how it was portrayed.)_

Cameron Cubbison @ Pop Culture Review: [Bones Review: “Why Is It That When Things Like This Happen It’s To People You Don’t Want to See Naked?”](https://web.archive.org/web/20100520121903/http://poptimal.com/2010/05/bones-review-%E2%80%9Cwhy-is-it-that-when-things-like-this-happen-it%E2%80%99s-to-people-you-don%E2%80%99t-want-to-see-naked%E2%80%9D/): All the Wiccan stuff was pretty cool, and I wish it had been explored even more.

(Okay, gonna skip a dozen more tv review sites that mention the episode mostly to say, "Witches. Huh." before going back to the shipping squee.)

Mark Washburn @ Kathyreichs.com: ['Bones' author tries her hand at scripts](http://kathyreichs.com/bones-author-tries-her-hand-at-scripts/): She had researched the Wiccan religion and witchcraft for “Devil Bones,” set in Charlotte, her 11th Brennan book (No. 13, “Spider Bones,” is due out in August). Some additional research, including learning about a 400-million-year-old insect, went into her scriptwriting.

* * *

  
**My Thoughts** (because I'm not going to make a separate post for a review), in which I ignore the historical stuff (see [](https://jenett.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**jenett**](https://jenett.dreamwidth.org/) 's post for that; my interest in Salem witches is… nonexistent.):  
My *first* reaction on seeing the "Wiccans" (really, has to go in quotes) in the distance was, "hey, _rich_ Wiccans—matching robes!" Followed by, as B&B got closer, "Rich, young, pretty, skinny, White, female Wiccans." Who, as Rob noticed, *practice* their chanting 'cos damn it's pretty when they all do it in unison. (I know plenty of groups who can sing/chant nicely; none who can intone in sync without a tune.) Robsez they're not so young; he can see aging lines in the corners of their eyes & mouths. They certainly try to *look* young, which clashes with most Wiccans I know.

I'm not saying there aren't Wiccan groups that look like this… but they're pretty rare. (There are none here on the left coast, as far as I know; the Pagan communities here don't lend themselves to the obsession with shape that leads to a pack of Size 8 people all wanting to circle together, and with nobody else.)

I'm willing to overlook the "bat bones are an essential aspect of my religious practices" bit, because I've known *plenty* of coven leaders who can say things like that with a straight face. In reality, that translates to, "some of our rituals use bones. Including bat bones. Our right to use any materials we find spiritually meaningful is constitutionally protected, but since the exact usage & meaning of these materials is too complicated to explain, I'm going to fall back on 'essential part of the religion' because it's a legally-acceptable way to describe the situation." (It's maybe equivalent to a Catholic saying that a rosary is an essential part of their religion. Sure, plenty of Catholics don't carry one around all the time, but that doesn't mean you can deny their use to the ones who do want to carry/wear one.)

What bugged me:

  * OMG skinny pretty white girls. Gaaah. Who don't even *mention* the possibility of men in a Wiccan coven. 
  * WE R PEESSFUL! No violence or hexes EVAR!! No dark magicks for us! (Did I miss something, or did they manage to get through the episode *without* the word "Rede" being mentioned? If so, I'm impressed.) 
  * No mention of *other* witchcraft religions, other Pagan religions, or even other types of Wiccans. This is probably the most annoying part to me, because it gives the public the impression that _all Wiccans are like this_. 
  * No mention that the Salem witches _weren't witches_. (My one nod to historical awareness.)
  * No mention of how one becomes a witch, how one joins the religion. Not that I'd expect detailed personal histories from them, but it's not like all these women grew up as little witches and joined the Circle Of The Pentacle Candles when they turned 18.
  * No mention of how this Wicca exists in the larger community (Pagan or not). Not that it should've gone into any detail, but it's unclear *how* these people work as a coven. No spouses? No kids? No parents/siblings involved? No community connections? They're a plot device, not a functional group. 
  * The "tainted rye flour." What IDIOTS do not know that rye can carry ergot? THE ENTIRE PAGAN COMMUNITY KNOWS THIS. Some people in the shamanic side of the community has recipes for converting ergot to more fun & useful forms of intoxicants. Growing up non-Pagan, I knew that moldy wheat bread contains penicillin (tear the blue spot off if it tastes yucky & eat your damn sandwich, kid); moldy rye bread contains _poison_. 
  * The notion that ergot poisoning can cause A DOZEN PEOPLE to hallucinate so completely they can commit murder and not realize it. WTF? Note to readers: [ergot](http://www.erowid.org/plants/ergot/ergot.shtml) does not work that way. No hallucinogen does—some *might* give hallucinations that strong, but they don't give a group the *same* hallucination. 



  
Overall, any *one or two* of these "Wiccans" would've been reasonable; the coven as a whole (did they even use the word "coven?") was unbelievable. As in, I could not believe this was a real group. If I met one of these "Wiccans" at a gathering, I'd think she a bit of an idiot, and off her nut, and stay away from her (the names thing was more than a bit silly); if I met the whole group, I'd be certain we were being infiltrated by some student or media group trying to do research.

Dammit, I'm tired of the best thing I can say about media representations of my religion being "oh good; this _isn't_ likely to result in public attacks against Pagans." Is it really too much to ask that an episodic tv show someday depicts Wiccans (not gonna ask for less well known types of Pagans; let's not get extreme here) that look and act like _some_ of the Wiccans I know?

I live in the SF Bay Area. We have, in February, the _largest Pagan convention in the nation_ … which probably means "in the world." Possibly the largest gathering, period. (The only ones that might be larger are if you count "summer solstice at Stonehenge" types of tourist-gatherings.) My local Pagan community is not the oddball fringe of Paganism… we are "mainstream" Paganism. I want the media to stop interviewing Fiona Horne & Silver Ravenwolf, and talk to Macha Nightmare and Anna Korn. Want someone willing to talk to the media? Find Starhawk. She's more involved in activism than most Pagans, but she's _one of us_ , living in her religion, not someone who likes candles & poetry and thinks "the Goddess" means "Jesus with tits."

And, sigh, if any Christian group had been this badly represented, there would be Massive Outcry and Threats Of Boycotts. If they'd been investigating some weird Jewish Kabalah cult, and had depicted the rabbis as this whacked and outside of the norms, they'd be getting angry letters and potentially legal action, depending on how close they got to specific libel. (Being just *wrong* is not libel. Being wrong in a way that causes damage to a specific group or person can be.)

They'll probably get a few letters, but more in praise than not… because they didn't say "witches are evil." Because for the time being, that's the best we can get… "here's some witches, and they're good people." (Plz to ignore the "accidentally drugged themselves & killed someone" part mmkay?)

I'm not supposed to notice or care how badly they *mangled* the depiction of my religion.


End file.
